Russian Railways, Iranian Railways and Azerbaijani Railways have signed a protocol fixing through railway for freight transportation by the western branch of the North-South international transport corridor, Russian Railways said.
The parties assessed cargo flows expected in 2026 and agreed on the plan to organize their transportation during the first half of the year.
The aim of the protocol is to improve the commercial attractiveness of the Western branch of the North-South international transport corridor.
Container traffic via the Astara border crossing checkpoint on the Azerbaijan-Iran border grew almost 60% during 2025, fpr the time being, some 7.5 thousand TEU was transported.
Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran will also continue working to attract non-containerized commodities like ferrous metals, grains, timber and woodwork, paper and fertilizers to the route.
Photo: Russian Railways